State of The Congress Report

Two years ago at the membership meeting, my predecessor presented to you a “State of the Congress” report.  It was information on what the Congress and the Board of Directors had accomplished in the prior two years and what directions the organization was headed in the future. 

I would like to continue this precedent and briefly update all of you again on Congress business as I complete my two year term as President.    

During the past two years, the Congress has reached several new milestones.  Below are a few of what we accomplished as a Board. 

• Partnered with the National Association of Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) and reformatted and restarted the Water Safety Journal from a print version to an e-mail publication.  By going the e-mail route we are able to reach a wider audience at considerably reduced costs.  We also added Mercury Marine as a corporate sponsor for the Journal.
• Hired two staff people; an Executive Director and a staff accountant, and established a corporate office.  The Executive Director position was a significant turning point for the organization.  The Congress is now on equal footing with other comparable organizations dealing with boating and water safety issues.  Cecilia Duer has brought a tremendous enthusiasm for the job as Executive Director.  She has put in place programs for future growth and given the Congress a voice and contact for individuals needing information on water safety and advice on potential programs involving water safety issues.
• Partnered with the U.S. Power Squadron on a new boating and water safety software program for children.  The program is a 3 year grant project.  A draft was completed the year.  When complete the software will be a new teaching guide for children to lean about all aspects of safe boating and water safety.
• Initiated a post water safety training course for the past two Summits.  In 2003, we offered a Marina Safety training course for marina operators and interested federal and state officials.  The training was based on our publication “ The Guidelines for the Safe Operation and Maintenance of Marinas”  In 2004 we offered a “Cold Water Safety” training program to assist individuals with training that are exposed to the dangerous of cold water rescue and survival.
• Signed an MOU with the Spirit of America Foundation, to cooperate and share resources on future youth boating and water safety initiatives.  We applied for a joint grant funding for FY05 to initialize a water safety program in each of are six Congress regions.  The training and demonstrations would be held under the NWSC name.

Other Accomplishments:

·       Increased our corporate sponsor base and developed new criteria that further defines our overall membership base, to include individual members, corporate members and associate members. 

·       Increased revenues from our partnership grants, and corporate sponsors

·       Increased monetary awards and applicants for our local water safety   councils through the small grants program.

·       Redesigned and updated our web page for easier navigation. 

As you can see the Congress has come a long way in the past two years.  But these accomplishments took there roots in the previous 5 to 6 years.  We have seen the benefits of the seeds put in place over the years.  

The Congress has turned the corner with new ideas and initiatives for the future.  We can continue to build on this foundation through new training efforts.  The Summit which the Congress is a co-sponsor continues to grow each year.  We can and should continue make the Summit the premier water safety event of the season.  By working through our Executive Director office the Congress can develop the professionalism that will be necessary in the future to compete for public dollars and grant funding.  And we must not lose sight of additional partnerships and potential MOU’s with other organizations.  Opportunities will present themselves for future sharing of resources with other groups and organizations if federal dollars become tight.  We have to be in the forefront to take advantage of these partnerships.  The Congress has the reputation of a leader in water safety issues.  We must continue to demonstrate to the industry that we are the leaders and are ready to take on new challenges. 

It has been a privilege and an honor to serve the past two years as your President.  I have enjoyed very much the responsibility to lead this group.  I thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve on the Board and to be President of the National Water Safety Congress.  I look forward to continuing to serve with pride on the Board of Directors over the next two years in the Past Presidents capacity. 

Sincerely, 

Ronald J. Riberich